Fact of the day

Information is the most powerful weapon.

Monday

Fact N°
1156

The biggest Super Bowl ring size ever made is 25 -- double the size of an average adult male.

It won't be too surprising to learn that this ring was issued to Chicago Bears defensive tackle William "The Refrigerator" Perry, a member of the Chicago Bears when they beat the New England Patriots in Super Bowl XX. Perry, a fan favorite in Chicago during his nine years with the team, stood 6'2" (1.88 m) and tipped the scales at 382 lbs (173.4 kg).
By way of comparison, the ring size for the average adult male is around 11. And incidentally, a size 25 ring has an inside diameter of 1.3 inches (3.3 cm) -- about the same size at which most cock rings begin.

TWA flight 800 exploded over the Atlantic Ocean on July 17, 1996, en route from New York to Paris, killing all 230 aboard the airplane.
As teams began diving to the wreckage on the ocean floor, they found the water full of glitter -- specifically, magician's glitter, hundreds of pounds of it, which was bound for a Parisian circus. It wound up on virtually everything recovered from the site -- including plane parts and bodies -- making for a very surreal crash recovery scene.

Wednesday

Fact N°
1158

The Kola Superdeep Borehole features the deepest hole ever dug into the earth.

A project began by the Soviets in 1970, the Kola Superdeep Borehole was actually one hole that had a number of boreholes branching off from it. One branch, called SG-3, reached deeper than any other hole in history: 7.62 miles (12.262 km). The Soviets had intended on drilling down to 13.5 km but temperatures were substantially hotter than expected.
The project was in part inspired by Project Mohole, a 1957 U.S. effort to drill deep under the Pacific Ocean. Japan has undertaking a similar underwater project, called Chikyu Hakken.

Thursday

Fact N°
1159

In 1939, Adolf Hitler was nominated for the Nobel Peace Prize.

Nobel Peace Prize nominations can't be made by just anyone, although the "right to submit proposals" for the prize is extended to a wide range of people, including government officials, members of international courts, university rectors, previous laureates, and members of the Norwegian Nobel Committee.
Consequently a lot of people could claim to be "nominees," and one is Hitler, who was nominated by Erik Brandt, a member of the Swedish parliament. Brandt withdrew the nomination a few days later.

Friday

Fact N°
1160

At least one academic study has declared the prank of "cow-tipping" to be an urban myth.

A study conducted at the University of British Columbia challenged the physics of cow-tipping and concluded that, under virtually every circumstance, it's no more than a myth.
A chief reason for this is the fact that cows don't sleep standing up. Rather, they doze -- meaning they wake up easily, making the act of sneaking up on them and then managing to exert enough force to knock over an animal weighing over 1,000 lbs fast enough for it to fail to react at all extremely unlikely.
Ultimately, cow-tipping only exists in anecdotal form, and many consider the notion alone a potential example of cruelty to animals.

Saturday

Fact N°
1161

Toy maker Hasbro bought the rights to Mr. Potato Head for 50 cents.

Hasbro was founded in 1923 as textile remnant company Hassenfield Brothers, and did not start making toys until the 1940s. However, not until 1952 did they have a hit on their hands.
Toy inventor George Lerner first sold the idea of a potato with removable body parts to a cereal company, who failed to see any success with the idea. In 1952, Lerner showed the idea to Hassenfeld Brothers, who bought the rights from the cereal company for 50 cents.
In the first year alone, the toy netted the company over $4 million.

Sunday

Fact N°
1162

Of the four individuals honored with U.S. federal holidays, only one was born in the USA.

U.S. law commemorates the following men with federal holidays: George Washington (called Presidents Day, the third Monday in February); Christopher Columbus (the second Monday in October); Martin Luther King Jr. (the third Monday in January); and Jesus Christ (December 25).
Of these four, only MLK was born in the USA (Georgia). Jesus Christ was born in the Middle East, Columbus was (probably) born in Italy, and the father of the country was born in 1732 in British America, 44 years before the USA existed.